What is the history of lymphatic filariasis?
Lymphatic filariasis has been known to occur in the Nile region, and ancient artifacts suggest that the disease may have been present as early as 2000BC. A statue of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II depicts swollen limbs, a characteristic of elephantiasis, which is a symptom of heavy lymphatic filariasis infection.
When was lymphatic filariasis discovered?
1.1 Scientific discovery 1872: Lewis found microfilariae in blood. 1877: Bancroft found a female adult filarial worm in the ulcer of lymph node of the arm.
What investigations must be performed to confirm a diagnosis of filariasis?
The diagnosis of filariasis requires examination of a blood smear for the presence of the larval round worm W. bancrofti or B. malayi. Since the number of parasites (parasitemia) in the blood is higher during the night, blood samples are best obtained at night.
What is filaria antibody test?
Anti-filarial antibody test The test is based on flow through immunochromatographic method and employs purified recombinant antigen (WbSXP-1) to detect specific anti-filarial antibodies against both W. bancrofti and B. malayi. The test performed and interpreted as per the manufacturer instructions.
Where is lymphatic filariasis most common?
It is most common in tropical Africa and Asia. Lymphatic filariasis is classified as a neglected tropical disease and one of the four main worm infections.
What is the causative agent of lymphatic filariasis?
Causative Agents. The causative agents of lymphatic filariasis (LF) include the mosquito-borne filarial nematodes Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, B. timori An estimated 90% of LF cases are caused by W. bancrofti (Bancroftian filariasis).
Who first discovered that the life cycle of filarial worms involves mosquitoes?
Between 1884 and 1897, Laveran, Manson (who in 1877 had demonstrated that the filarial worms responsible for lymphatic filariasis were transmitted by mosquitoes [34]), and the Italian malariologists, had become increasingly convinced that mosquitoes were involved in the transmission of malaria.
Where is lymphatic filariasis found?
Lymphatic filariasis affects over 120 million people in 72 countries throughout the tropics and sub-tropics of Asia, Africa, the Western Pacific, and parts of the Caribbean and South America. You cannot get infected with the worms in the United States.
How is lymphatic filariasis diagnosis?
The standard method for diagnosing active infection is the identification of microfilariae in a blood smear by microscopic examination. The microfilariae that cause lymphatic filariasis circulate in the blood at night (called nocturnal periodicity).
What is DEC test?
The diethylcarbamazine (DEC) provocative day test has been widely used for daytime diagnosis of Wuchereria bancrofti infections in areas where microfilariae exhibit nocturnal periodicity.
How is elephantiasis diagnosed?
Your doctor can find out if you have elephantiasis by giving you a physical exam. They will ask about your medical history, and whether you’ve traveled to a place where you were more likely to have gotten elephantiasis. They also will have blood tests done to see if roundworms are in your bloodstream.
How do they diagnose Loiasis?
The standard diagnostic test for the diagnosis of loiasis is demonstration of microfilariae on a daytime (10AM to 2PM) Giemsa-stained thin or thick blood smear.